On the recordJuly 30, 2011
I rise today to give a voice to Minnesotans to relay their thoughts on how Congress should resolve this impasse and raise the debt ceiling to avoid a default. On Wednesday, I received an e-mail from a constituent in St. Louis Park, my hometown. His e-mail reads: Dear Senator. I am a Republican. I am a Minnesotan. I am a small business owner. I am considered to have a high income relative to the average American. . . . Here's my request: Please work together to get this debt limit impasse settled. On Thursday, I received this e-mail from a man in Bloomington. He writes: I'm a small businessman in the middle of a fund raising effort. The concern over the debt ceiling has caused all the angel investors to put off any discussion of investment until they know what is going to happen. This has stopped my ability to raise funds which will lead to new high quality jobs in Minnesota. I support a simple bill that increases the debt limit to get us through the 2012 elections as has been done hundreds of times before. Yesterday, I received an e-mail from a couple in Bemidji: We are retired small business owners who are watching our very very conservative retirement account drop and plunge due to the inability of Congress to come up with a plan for the debt ceiling. We trust your judgment as a Senator, but plead with the Congress and the Senate to come up with a solution. We absolutely cannot afford to see our retirement savings sink again like it did in 2008. . . .…
